For 2019, the Port Jersey Logistics team proudly continued our tradition of exhibiting at the Summer Fancy Food Show at the Javits Center in New York City. You may be thinking, what is a logistics company doing exhibiting at a food show? For starters, we believe in supporting the industry we've immersed ourselves in. It also helps having close to 50 customers that also exhibit at the Summer Fancy Food Show, providing the opportunity to meet with them over the course of the three day show to discuss forecasts, what's happening in the market, what we can do better and how we further improve our partnership. Secondly, our booth serves as a hub for show attendees to get answers to their logistics and supply chain related questions. Lastly, we like to keep up with trends in the specialty food industry to guide us in expanding our service offerings. Here are some of the most noteworthy food trends that we noticed at the 2019 Summer Fancy Food Show:
Flavor Profile Expansion - whether it's truffle flavored cheese, maple flavored hot sauce or sriracha flavored honey, companies are becoming more adventurous with this flavor pairings. One thing stays consistent though, people like their sweets and people like their hot sauce!
Non-Traditional Vegetable Usage - vegetables used as an unexpected but healthy ingredient, for example ice cream with vegetables mixed in, mushroom coffee, mushroom jerky and cauliflower as a gluten-free low-carb substitute. Pickles are being marinated in various liquids, including gin and beer, and pickled with expanded seasoning varieties such as everything bagel. Other pickled vegetables besides cucumbers growing in popularity, such as cauliflower, asparagus and green beans.
Plant-based alternatives - nut-based cheeses, vegan meats and vegan ice cream top the list of alternative products for vegetarians and vegans. With new varieties of coconut butter, coconut water, coconut jerky, and various coconut snacks, food consumers continue to go coocoo for coconuts.
Tea – kombucha continues to grow in popularity while other types of tea experience new innovations, such as cold tea brewed with hops to emulate the taste of your favorite beer without the alcohol.
Copying hot trends - each year seems to have a hot trend and the following year, everyone has jumped on board. As an example, Stroop waffles (the Dutch dessert is rapidly gaining in popularity in the US) seemed like they could be found at every booth, with many new brands popping up at the Summer Fancy Food Show, both in the international and domestic exhibits.
At Port Jersey Logistics, we understand that specialty foods require special logistics requirements (just check out our feature on the Specialty Food Association website). Whether your product is food, beverage, organic or temperature-controlled, we have a logistics solution for you. If you need a partner to help with warehousing, transportation, distribution or valued-added services for your specialty food products, contact Port Jersey Logistics today.
